Field Gulls
Is it possible to have a genuinely great time while doing something meaningful? On Saturday, July 11th, the answer was an emphatic yes in Cheney Stadium, home of the Tacoma Rainiers (the Triple-A Affiliate of the Seattle Mariners).
Two active Seattle Seahawks (and fresh Super Bowl champions), Rashid Shaheed and Uchenna Nwosu helped to host this year’s Seattle All-Star Classic. The 2026 iteration is the fifth annual instance of this event, and it has done nothing but grow.
The main events were a home run derby, followed by a 7-inning softball game that helped to connect current and former Seahawks, local celebrities and civic leaders with the community at large. There were meet-and-greets, autograph opportunities, an unexpected dance routine by Alaska Airlines flight attendants and organic chances to chat with media in a relaxed setting (more on that in a bit).
It also served to raise awareness of and fundraise a diverse collection of nonprofit organizations that do work to better the Seattle/Tacoma area. There is a good list of partners and sponsors that contributed as well. Throughout the day, play was paused for short times to put an organization on the big screen and speak to what they do.
Learn more about those organizations here.
This event was co-founded by Kerry Carter (former member of the Seattle Seahawks and the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes) and Drew Dambreville (COO of Seattle Seawolves Rugby).
From the SASC website:
“In our fifth year, SASC is honored to introduce ‘Filling the Gap’. ‘Filling the Gap’ is our community initiative that will highlight (5) South Sound / Tacoma area nonprofits that work to solve inequities in:
Education
Youth Sports
Academic & Leadership
Economic Empowerment
Food or Family Insecurities”
The participants were visibly enjoying their time competing and goofing around with each other, while simultaneously including fans in the levity. A lot of Seahawks pictures were taken with young fans, and I even saw a kid’s t-shirt being signed.
Just a few of the notable guests included Lofa Tatupu (former Seahawk), Myles Gaskin (former UW Husky and Seahawk), Denzel Boston (former UW Husky and newest class of Cleveland Browns rookies), Brady Russell (current Seahawk), Casey Sadler (former Mariner), Rebel Kel (professional wrestler), Angela Rye (social justice advocate), Kid Sensation (Seattle hip-hop legend), Kwame Appiah (Love is Blind star), Ray Wells Jr. (Team USA and WSU track and field legend) and Blake Lively (the professional softball player). There were many more influential people, so here is the full roster.
During the softball portion of the proceedings, Nwosu’s “Dark Side” team in blue was dominating, 12-5 through four innings. Then, the Master of Ceremonies (Terry Hollimon) had them switch dugouts to reverse any weird juju that was going on, and it worked! Shaheed’s “We Did Not Care” team in white stormed back, tied the game and went on to win in the seventh and final inning. Final score: 18-17, in favor of Shaheed’s squad.
Shaheed was soaking it all in with a big smile. He spent the most...
